Authors:

Abstract:

Once an addict is abstinent, he/she sometimes report craving to several drug-related stimuli. The proposal carried-out by Rankin, Hodgson and Stockwell (1979) to do operative the concept of craving established the starting point to facilitate its boarding and measure. The aim of the present article is to review the studies which have assessed craving to drug-related stimuli. Authors suggest several orientations to perform craving assessment: 1) using drug-related and neutral stimuli, being preferable the in vivo to in video presentation; 2) the assessment of craving to specific and significant stimuli to the addicts; 3) the assessment of emotional states; 4) the assessment of psychophysiological measures (skin conductance and heart rate). Finally, it is stressed the importance to analyze the correspondence between subjective and psychophysiological measures, and it is carried out a procedure proposal.